The greatly anticipated "end of the world" is expected on Saturday, May 21, 2011 at about 7pm Pacific time (the church that is making the prediction is in the city of Oakland, CA). I raise this point because, while listening to the radio this morning, a radio host asked a "believer" whether that was 7pm east coast time or 7pm west coast time. The believer seemed thrown by the question. The only response he could make was "it will happen all over the world". The radio hosts had some more fun with the believer asking "so, if it 7pm anywhere in the world, the world will come to end?" which the believer seemed to have a tough time grasping.
So, this raises these questions: (1) What part of the world will see doomsday first, (does it just has to be 7pm anywhere?) (2) And, if it only has to be 7pm in Oakland, Ca, what time will it be in the farthest time zone (e.g., in NYC it will be 10pm)? Answer to question (1): It appears that locations in the Magadan Summer Time (MAGST) will experience doomsday first IF just being 7pm in any time zone is sufficient for doomsday to occur. The Russian Federation's Kamchatka falls into this region (as well as some south Pacific islands) and one can use the city Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky as a reference point. So, one way of looking at things is "if it is 7pm in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, then the world will end" (which may come as a surprise to people in Oakland because they are 19 hours behind). Answer to question (2): If doomsday come when it is 7pm PDT in Oakland, then what time will it be in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky? It will be 2pm, SUNDAY, May 22, 2011. Yes, Virginia, doomsday will come to some people on Saturday, May 21 while others will be having breakfast or brunch on Sunday. For some fun and games about time zones, see: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converted.html?month=5&day=21&year=2011&hour=19&min=0&sec=0&p1=224&p2=114 By the way, if doomsday was to happen immediately after the end of Friday, May 20, 2011, then it would have ended about 2 hours ago (relative to the time I wrote this; for the time when you read this, see: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=114 ) For current times all over the world, see: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/full.html -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=10663 or send a blank email to leave-10663-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
